This week Jenna speaks to Luke Courtenay Smith, a blockchain consultant, about Web3 and why those who work in social need to know about it. He walks us through what it is and how social media professionals can use it both now and in the future.

Luke works with both traditional brands looking to enter the space, as well as helping web3 brands scale their reach to mass audiences. With a background in Fintech, Marketing & Entertainment, Luke has a diverse portfolio of experiences that guides his principles on technology and human interaction.

They also discuss whether brands get free reign on certain social channels because those in senior positions don't know what they are... Why all social media people should be on Discord and getting native with it and Jenna goes off (again) about not forgetting Facebook and the nuances of what platforms are important country to country.

Plus we learn what a vampire attack is and Luke tells us that he thinks every brand will have a NFT strategy and a metaverse strategy within the next few years. TLDL? Web3 is here whether you accept it or not. As a social media professional, we can't stress enough how much you need to be on board and understand what it is.

Resources from the pod:

The book Luke is reading is Humankind by Rutger Bregman. And the useful doc chock a block(chain) full of useful bits and pieces and all things Web3 is here https://www.openclub.studio/articles/reading-list-welcoming-you-to-web3 (thanks Luke!).

Read about Tiffany & Co.'s NFT adventures here: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/tiffanys-cryptopunk-nft-pendants-trnd/index.html

Find out more about joining The SocialMedia Union on our website here: www.thesocialmediaunion.com

Follow Luke on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Luke_Courtenay

And on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukecourtenaysmith/

Jenna recommends this week taking a look at www.b3ta.com and Luke thinks you should follow https://twitter.com/naval.